Alonso clarifies everyone’s main doubt: “This is not the Silverstone World Championship”

Fernando Alonso gave another master class in analyzing the situation after the classification of F1 British GP. Far from what many thought, the man from Oviedo approached the Spanish press present at the track, along with MD, with a smiling and serene face. He was not upset with his car’s worse performance compared to the first races of the year. Nor for being a step ahead of their rivals. And he prepares to explain the reasons why he is not worried. He spoke about everything and responded to everything, openly and analytically. He referred to the importance of runway characteristics to indicate that perhaps McLaren and Williams they took a huge step forward that may not be repeated in other circuits. He remembered that the same thing happened last year and the world It ended in a different way and gave another clue, no less important: he made sure that they focused their work in Free Practice 1 on Friday on collecting data thinking about the design of the 2024 car. In the middle of the season they are already thinking about the next season. They can compete for good results on other types of tracks, as he recognizes MDbut its focus is different: Think about next year’s car. Therein lies the real key.

“The circuit has different characteristics from the previous ones, with fast corners. Barcelona, ​​​​​​Austrias and Silverstone, the three where we had the most problems, have similar characteristics , with very fast corners. And maybe little by little we are discovering weaknesses in our car that we are trying to improve, but because the championship is 22 races and it is not the Silverstone World Championship, we will take stock at the end of year”, commented the Oviedo native on the British track.

After that, MD asked the Asturian if it was a surprise that in current F1 big leaps forward are seen between teams as their cars change. Fernando brought out his engineering side to leave the journalists present speechless with the reflection and memory of a statesman who got everyone’s attention and who he used to indicate that the improvement of teams like Williams could be something special, because of the characteristics of Silverstone.

“Amazing Championship? No. We have short memories. Last year I think I started Alpine 7th or 8th and there was Albon here next to me on the same starting line. In Q3 he got in. At Monza Albon got in Q3 and Nyck de Vries made his debut and I think he also got into Q3. And when we get to Monza and we see Williams in Q3 we will say strange F1. Also Austria last year McLaren was very good , Silverstone was very good, and then they finished the regular year, when we beat them in Alpine. So, as I say: in Abu Dhabi we do the math”.

Of course, he recognized the good work that the rivals were doing with their new packages and the development of their respective cars and admitted that perhaps Aston Martin had taken a step back and should react from now on. “Our rivals are very good, there are improvements. We did very well in the first 9 races and we will see in the next 11 who is better.

The goal this Sunday

“We’ll see,” he commented on Sunday’s race goal. “In the weekends where the car was leading, we were able to get podiums and make the most of it. In the weekends where the car was not leading, we achieved good points so far, like 5th in sprint and 5th in the race and to see if tomorrow we can come back with good points, sixth or seventh or whatever and try to minimize your damage.” As a result of his answer, the question was forced. “Will more weekends come from having a top car?”

Alonso trusts it but he’s not worried either. The priority is one higher. “Let’s see, I think. And even if they don’t come, McLaren will have to take back a hundred odd points from us. They’re slowly starting…”.

Think 2024

“Our focus is not on one race. It is long-term. Even yesterday, Friday, the whole FP1 was dedicated to the 2024 car. Just to say where the leader of the whole team is now,” he continued in front of the newspapers of Spain.

“Saturday is hard to know. It’s true that Sunday was our strong point and this Sunday I’m confident that we’ll be able to come back, but I can’t tell you if we’ll finish in the top 5, in the first 7 or if we’ll go. backwards in the race. There are many things to see. But I’m not worried. We had 10 races, 10 times in Q3 and I would have signed it. And tomorrow we’ll see how it ends, that in Austria everything seems to be flying too and we’re ahead of them scoring more points, so… it doesn’t mean that we don’t realize that we’re underperforming today, compared to in the first 4 or 5 races. That is clear and visible to all of us. But we’re doing it.”

maybe the 8th

“I probably lost tenth at turn 7. Because throughout the time trial they were telling me that everyone was doing turn 7 on the inside and I had a lot of oversteer and I was always lengthening, I lost more meters but I had more stability. And in Q3 I tried to hit it from the inside like everyone else does, it seems, and I had a whiplash where I must have lost a tenth. Then when I saw the times, I think we passed Alex Albon, so eighth was the best. But the top 7 is a bit out of reach now. So more or less where we should be, eighth or ninth.”